Imaginary Raphie
by Ryan Phelan
Summary: Tired of the way a certain brother treats him, young Mikey invents a replacement.


**Disclaimer: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are owned by someone else; I'm just a girl with an active imagination and way too much time on my hands. Okay, now that the legal stuff is out of the way please enjoy the next installment of my "tiny turtles" series.**

Imaginary Raphie

New York City…an amazing place that is all too often the scene for mayhem and mass destruction. Like a massive gang war or in this case, an alien invasion.

"Fear me, puny citizens of Earth!" A giant purple cat yelled, his massive shadow falling over Manhattan like a blanket. "I am the mighty Lord Fuzzy from the Planet of the Cats! Surrender or I will eat you all!" He then proceeded to knock over several buildings.

"Not so fast, hairball!" A deep, heroic voice cried. The Silver Sentry appeared in front of the alien. "Stop destroying my city and leave my planet now!"

"Never!" Lord Fuzzy hissed. He hit the Silver Sentry and knocked him to the ground. "No puny earthling can defeat me!"

"Think again!" Silver Sentry yelled, getting to his feet. "Prepare to be neutered!" He rocketed towards Lord Fuzzy; a very long and loud battle followed until…

"Mikey! Knock off that noise!"

Raph's angry voice caused all activity in the eight-year-old turtles' living room to come to a halt. Don looked up from the toaster oven he had been tinkering with, and Leo from his comic book. There was a tense silence as they watched Mike look up and meet his brother's hard gaze.

"You can't tell me what to do, Raph," Mike snapped. "I can play with Silver Sentry if I want to and you can't stop me!" With that, he went back to making his action figure and stuffed cat fight each other over a New York City made of wooden blocks.

Raph gritted his teeth and turned his attention back to his drawing of a turtle beating up an alligator. Seeing that a confrontation had been avoided for now, Don and Leo went back to their business as well.

"Take that, you big hairball!" Mike yelled as he slammed Silver Sentry into the stuffed cat. "And that! And that!"

The more Mike yelled, the more annoyed Raph got. He tried to concentrate on his drawing, but Mike's voice rubbed against his nerves like a cheese grater; ignoring it took a kind of patience that Raph simply did not posses.

"I'm serious Mikey!" Raph snapped. "Either you shut up or I'll shut you up!"

"Leave him alone, Raph," Leo said. "You're just sore 'cause Mikey beat you in practice today."

Raph scowled. He hated losing to anyone, but losing to a goofball like Mike was the worst, especially since Mike liked to shove it in Raph's face every chance he got.

"Yeah, Raph," Mike grinned. "If you want to pick a fight you should pick someone you have a chance of beating!"

That was enough to make Raph jump to his feet. Immediately Leo jumped up as well, quickly positioning himself between Raph and Mike. "Stop it, both of you! Raph, if Mikey is bothering you so much why don't you go in the other room?"

"Why should I? He's the one who's being a pest!" He glared at Leo. "I should have known you'd take his side."

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I…"

"Forget it!" Raph snarled. "If you all want me to go, I'll go!" He gathered up his paper and his crayons and stomped into the kitchen. Leo frowned and turned to his youngest brother.

"You shouldn't tease Raph like that, Mikey," Leo said disapprovingly.

"C'mon, Leo, he makes it so easy! What else am I supposed to do?" Mike turned his attention back to his toys. "Oh, no!" He cried, picking up some rubber balls. "It's a deadly meteor shower! Run for your lives!" He yelled as he bounced them off the blocks. Leo rolled his eyes and went back to his place on the couch, where his comic book was waiting.

"Maybe you should have let Raph pound him," Donatello commented as he tightened the last screw on the toaster oven.

"Raph shouldn't get so mad all the time," Leo said. "I'm sure once he calms down he'll forget all about it."

"Fat chance," Don muttered.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Raph poured himself a glass of milk and settled at the table. He then began work on a new drawing; ten minutes later he had created a pirate ship filled with angry pirates making a blue-masked turtle walk the plank. A more unfortunate turtle was already plummeting headfirst towards a hungry shark's mouth, the word 'NOOO!' written inside a bubble coming from his mouth. Raph smirked in satisfaction and picked up the orange crayon to fill in that turtle's mask.

Mike's Silver Sentry voice floated in from the other room. "Your twisted scheme has failed, villain! I'm sending your bomb into deep space where it can't hurt anyone!"

Raph was so engrossed in his drawing that he didn't even notice the rubber super ball that came flying into the room until it bounced off the wall and knocked over his glass, spilling milk all over the table. Raph's drawings were soaked through in seconds. At first Raph was stunned, but it didn't take long for his temper to flare up worse than ever.

"MIKEY!" Raph bellowed. He grabbed his drawings and stormed into the living room to where Mike was sitting. "You ruined my drawings! Look at them! Look!" He angrily waved the soggy paper at his little brother.

"I…I…" Mike sputtered as drops of milk peppered his face. Raph's anger was at what his brothers called the Volcano Stage, and at that stage even Mikey knew better than to mess with him. "I'm really sorry, Raph…" he began.

"Sorry my shell! You did it on purpose!"

"No I didn't! Honest!"

Mikey's pleas fell on deaf ears; Raph's anger had taken on a life of its own, and it demanded a sacrifice. "How would you like it if I ruined something of yours?!" He cried. Before he knew what he was doing, Raph snatched Mike's action figure out of his hand, pulled off the head and limbs and threw the pieces on the ground. Gasps of disbelief came from the other turtles, and a stunned silence filled the room.

Seeing Mike's broken toy at his feet stirred something in Raph. His anger dissolved and a far less familiar emotion took its place; it was cold and hard and weighed on his chest like a brick. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything Mike tackled him. The two turtles rolled across the floor locked in mortal combat until a pair of strong hairy hands grabbed them by the back of their necks and pulled them apart.

"What is going on here?!" Splinter demanded.

"He broke my Silver Sentry action figure!" Mike cried as he struggled against Splinter's grip.

"Like you weren't asking for it!" Raph spat back, swinging his fists in a vain attempt to hit his brother.

"ENOUGH!!" Splinter yelled. The tone of his voice stopped them both cold. "Leonardo, Donatello, please leave. I need to speak to your brothers." The two turtles were more than happy to comply; Splinter led his two remaining sons to the couch, where they sat on opposite ends glaring at each other.

"Now," Splinter said, sitting in between them, "how did this fight start?"

"I was in the kitchen minding my own business when Mikey threw a ball and knocked over my milk and ruined my drawings!" Raph blurted out.

"I said I was sorry!" Mike snapped, tears welling in his eyes. "But you broke Silver Sentry anyway! You're the worst brother ever!"

"And you're a big crybaby!"

"All right, both of you settle down," Splinter said firmly. "Michelangelo, did you intentionally ruin Raphael's drawings?"

"N-no Sensei! Honest!" Mike sniffed.

"I believe you," Splinter said. He turned to Raph. "Raphael, Michelangelo has apologized. I believe you owe him an apology as well."

"But Sensei…"

"Now, Raphael!" Splinter said.

Raph did feel sorry, but Mike's attack had squashed any desire to apologize. Instead, he crossed his arms and stared at the floor.

Splinter gave an exasperated sigh. "If you will not apologize, you will go to your room and stay there for the rest of the evening."

Wordlessly Raph slid of the couch and stomped into his bedroom, slamming the door as hard as he could. He flung himself on his bed and threw a fit, kicking and punching and yelling into his pillow. Finally, his energy spent, he rolled onto his back.

_Stupid Mikey,_ he thought angrily. _Stupid Leo! Stupid Don! Stupid Splinter! They all hate me! I hate them! I hate this whole stupid family! I wish I was never born!_

Raph closed his eyes; hot tears leaked out from the corners and slowly spilled down his cheeks.

----------

Raph opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. The surprise jolted his brain wide awake; he had been asleep for nearly twelve hours. He had even missed dinner. _Not that Splinter would have given me any,_ he thought bitterly. _Not unless I apologized to his precious little baby._ It was pretty early; Raph was sure not even Splinter would be up. Not wanting to deal with his family just yet, Raphael decided to sneak a quick breakfast and get back to his room. Silently he padded into the kitchen. His stomach growled angrily as Raph took a bagel from the cabinet and placed it in the newly repaired toaster oven. While he waited he fixed himself a bowl of cereal and wolfed it down. He put the bowl in the sink and went to check on his bagel; much to his annoyance, it was barely warm.

Raph winced at the sound of a bedroom door opening and closing, followed by the sound of footsteps. Moments later Leo entered the kitchen; Raph pretended to concentrate on his bagel while Leo sat down and helped himself to some cereal. The uncomfortable silence was broken only briefly by the sounds of Don entering the kitchen and joining Leo at the table. Too hungry to wait any longer, Raph grabbed his lukewarm bagel and sat down; all three turtles ate in silence, careful not to make eye contact…until Mike made his appearance.

Leo and Don held their breath, their eyes darting from Mike to Raph. Mike didn't seem to notice the tension in the air as he sat down at the table.

"Morning, Don. Morning, Leo," he said cheerfully, grabbing the cereal box. "Morning, Raphie. Do you want some cereal?"

Raph gritted his teeth. Mike knew he hated being called 'Raphie.' But he wasn't about to let Mike get him into any more trouble, so he kept quiet.

"Okay, Raphie," Mike said. He grabbed an empty bowl and pretended to pour cereal and milk into it. "Here you go," Mike said, pushing the bowl towards an empty chair. There was a pause. "You're welcome," Mike said, smiling at the chair. He then fixed his own bowl of cereal and began to eat, oblivious to the stares from his three brothers.

Leo was the first one to break the silence. "Uh, Mikey? Who's Raphie?"

"Our brother Raphael, duh!" Mike said, rolling his eyes. "But he prefers being called Raphie. Right, Raphie?" He asked the chair.

"I know you're just trying to annoy me, Mikey, and it's not working!" Raph snapped.

Mike continued to talk to the empty chair. "Why yes, Raphie, I would like some sugar on my corn flakes. You're so nice and thoughtful." He then held out his bowl for "Raphie" to spoon sugar into it.

"Fine!" Raph growled. "Go ahead and hang out with your stupid imaginary brother! See if I care!" He got up and stomped off to the dojo for morning practice.

Rarely did any turtle besides Leo practice their katas before they absolutely had to, but Raph had adrenalin to burn; he had already gone through the routine twice when his brothers arrived for practice.

"Hey Raphie, want to spar?" Mike asked. "Okay!" He began punching and kicking air. Suddenly he fell backwards. "Good shot, Raphie!" He laughed, getting to his feet.

The other turtles just stared. "Just when I thought Mikey couldn't get any weirder…" Don said.

"He's just doin' it for attention!" Raph snapped. He went back to his katas.

Mike and Raph continued their routines until Master Splinter entered the dojo. The turtles immediately lined up in their usual spots.  "Wait, Leo!" Mike said as Leo tried to stand beside him. "Raphie's standing there!"

Leo rolled his eyes and moved to the end of the line beside Raph. "Geez, Leo, don't encourage him!" Raph hissed under his breath.

"I thought you didn't care if he played with Raphie," Leo whispered back.

"Leonardo, Raphael, no talking once practice has begun," Splinter scolded. He stood in front of Leonardo. "And why are you standing here, Leonardo? You should be next to Michelangelo. Please take your proper place."

"But Sensei, that's Raphie's spot!" Mike protested.

Splinter raised an eyebrow. "Raphie?"

"That's his stupid imaginary friend!" Raph said.

Splinter gave Mike a stern look. "Michelangelo, the dojo is no place for games."

Mike turned to his right. "Sorry, Raphie, but you'll have to wait outside. Later we'll go sewer skating, okay?" He paused. "He's gone, Sensei."

"Good. Leonardo, take your place and we'll begin."

Raph smirked. He knew he could count on Master Splinter. However, his victory was short-lived; Raphie was back right after practice ended. Michelangelo bounded into his room and emerged with his skateboard. Sewer skating was something that Mike and Raph usually did together, but today Mike looked past Raph to his other brothers.

"Leo, Donny, do you guys want to come sewer skating with Raphie and me?" Mike asked.

"No thanks, Mikey. I have more stuff to fix this afternoon," Don replied.

"I'll go," Leo said. He grabbed his skateboard and the two boys were off. Raph watched them leave; he exhaled heavily, which sounded like a sigh to Donatello's sharp ears.

"Don't worry, Raph," he said reassuringly. "Mike won't stay mad at you forever."

Raph whirled around. "What do you know? You can't even fix the stupid toaster oven!"

Don's face immediately grew dark. "Then again, maybe Mike has the right idea," he said coldly.  He gathered up his equipment and went into his room.

Raph stood alone in the living room. He had no idea why he had snapped at Donny like that. The thought of apologizing crossed his mind but he quickly shook it off; Donny wasn't the kind to hold a grudge, and neither was Mike for that matter. Raph figured they'd forgive and forget by the end of the day; still, there was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind that refused to go away.  He decided to comfort himself by indulging in his favorite treat, licorice jellybeans. Entering his room to get his secret stash, he slammed the door behind him and narrowly missed being hit by several bricks that came crashing down from above. He involuntarily let out a shrill cry of surprise.

The noise brought both Don and Master Splinter into the room. "Are you all right, my son? What happened?" Splinter asked.

"I'm fine, Sensei," Raph replied, somewhat shaken.

Donatello inspected the damage. "It looks like part of the wall fell down," he said. "Not too surprising, considering how hard you always slam your door. It was only a matter of time before you shook a few bricks loose."

Splinter frowned. "There may be some structural damage. Perhaps we should move you into Leonardo's room for the time being, Raphael."

"No!" Raph cried. "It was just a couple of bricks! I'm fine, really!"

Splinter thought it over. "Very well. But if this happens again I want you to tell me immediately, understand?" Raph nodded, and Don and Splinter left.

Still unnerved by the whole experience, Raph desired comfort food more than ever. He reached under his bed and pulled out his jellybean jar; much to his surprise, it was empty.

"DON!" He bellowed from his doorway. "Did you eat my black jellybeans?!"

"NO!" Don shouted back. "You know you're the only one who likes those gross things!"

Don's words were true enough. Even Mike, who would eat just about anything, wouldn't touch them. Yet Raph was certain he had at least half a jar of jellybeans yesterday. How could he forget eating them? He shook his head; the day just kept getting weirder and weirder. He decided he needed to get out of the lair for awhile, so he grabbed his skateboard and left.

----------

The best tunnels for sewer skating were on the upper west side; knowing that's where Leo and Mike had undoubtedly gone, Raph headed in the opposite direction. There was only one other place suitable for sewer skating, and those tunnels were located directly above where several water mains emptied into a giant whirlpool. Because of this Master Splinter did not like them skating there; naturally that made them more appealing to a turtle like Raph.

The moment he reached the far end of the tunnel he jumped on his board and sped towards the abyss as fast as he could. Snaking back and forth along the curved walls, he veered off only few feet from the edge and turned back the other way. Around and around he went, coming closer to the edge each time before he turned back. The tension of the day began to melt away, and thoughts of Mike and Raphie were pushed further and further from his mind.

It happened in a spilt second. The front wheels popped off and his skateboard was ripped out from beneath his feet. Raph tumbled head over shell until he ran out of tunnel and felt himself falling; thanks to his ninja training he was able to grab hold of the edge and hang on as his body slammed against the wall below. He dangled less than fifty feet above the whirlpool, the spray tickling the tips of his toes. Fighting panic, he slowly tried to crawl up the wall, feeling for cracks and holes he could use for leverage. But the walls were smooth and damp from the moisture in the air and he kept losing his footing; each time he slammed against the wall his fingers slid closer to the edge until he was hanging by his fingertips. In desperation he cried out for his father and brothers, but his cries were drowned out by the angry roar of the water. Then the last bit of edge slipped out from under his fingers and he fell in, his small body violently spun around and around and around…

Raph awoke with a start. Looking around, he saw he was in his bedroom. _It was just a dream,_ he thought, sighing with relief. He looked at the clock; only forty minutes had passed since he was sent to his room, but it felt like an eternity. He realized he was trembling; the dream had been one of the worst he'd ever had. He felt an overwhelming need to see his family.

The living room was empty, but the brothers' things were still strewn about. Leo's comic book sat on the couch, and on the floor was the toaster oven. The Silver Sentry sat next to the toaster; one arm and one leg had been reattached, no doubt courtesy of Don. Mike's blocks were put away in their basket, and in their place was a sketchbook and crayons. Raph wandered over to take a look, and immediately felt his stomach drop; every drawing contained a pink-masked turtle labeled 'Raphie.' There was Leo and Raphie sparring, Mike and Raphie playing with Silver Sentry and the blocks, and Don and Raphie fixing the toaster together. But the one that upset Raphael the most was the family portrait; Mike, Leo, Don, Raphie and Master Splinter sat on the couch, their happy smiles burning a hole in his gut.

Raph jumped at the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. He quietly approached the doorway and looked inside; Master Splinter, Leo, Don and Mike sat at the table eating dinner. Raph's chair sat empty.

"…so then me and Raphie and Leo all jumped off the ramp. Leo and I fell on our butts, but Raphie leaped higher than us and did a flip and landed twenty feet away!" Mike said.

"Yeah, you should have seen it, Donny!" Leo exclaimed. "Raphie was amazing!"

"Next time for sure," Don said.

Raph's stomach sank. Not only was Raphie not a dream, but now all three of his brothers were acting like he was real. However, what bothered him most was Master Splinter; he could understand his brothers messing with him, but why was Master Splinter going along with it?

Master Splinter looked at the empty chair. "Raphael, do not talk with your mouth full."

His words sent a shockwave through Raph so forceful he had to grip the door frame. He tried to convince himself that he heard wrong, or that Master Splinter meant to say Leo or Mike. This was too much for him to bear; his brothers might forget about him, but not his own father!

"Master Splinter! I'm right here!" Raph cried, rushing to his side. Splinter took no notice. He tried to grab Splinter's sleeve but it kept slipping through his fingers. "Master Splinter? MASTER SPLINTER!" He hollered at the top of his lungs, but neither Splinter nor his brothers seemed to hear him; they continued to talk and laugh and eat.

Raph suddenly felt like he was suffocating. He half-ran, half-stumbled out of the lair; he didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get as far away as possible.

----------

Raph ran blindly through the sewers until he couldn't run any further; his energy spent, he collapsed in a heap and began to cry. He no longer cared about how it looked for a tough ninja warrior to cry so hard his body shook; he cried as freely as an eight-year-old whose family had abandoned him.

Raph tried desperately to understand why they were hurting him like this. He knew he could be a hothead sometimes, and that he wasn't always as nice to his brothers as he should be, but he couldn't believe he had done anything so awful that it would make his family stop loving him. He wasn't a bad person. He didn't deserve to be treated like this…did he?

"I think you know the answer to that," a voice above him said. Raph looked up and found himself staring at…himself! The skin was lighter and he wore a pink mask, but the sneer on his face was unmistakable.

"R-Raphie?" He stammered.

"Call me Raphael," the pink turtle said.

"You can't be Raphael! I'm Raphael!" Raph cried.

"That's not what everyone else thinks," Raphie laughed. "You saw it with your own eyes."

"NO! It's not true! You're not real!" Raph lunged at Raphie but he passed right through the pink turtle. He whirled around and faced Raphie. "See!" He said triumphantly.

"You think so?" Raphie smirked. "Am I really the imaginary turtle…or are you?"

He pointed to Raph's feet. Raph looked down and saw he was standing in a puddle…or rather, _through_ a puddle. Raph raised one foot and saw it wasn't even wet. He jumped up and down but didn't create a single ripple. Head spinning, Raph backed away from his double.

"This can't be happening…" he gasped. "It's a dream…it has to be…"

"It was, once," Raphie said, enjoying the pained look on Raph's face. "More specifically, Mikey's dream. He often dreamed that you were a nice brother instead of a mean-tempered bully. Every time you picked on him, made fun of him, or made his life miserable his desire for a 'nice' Raphael grew stronger. The final straw was when you broke his beloved superhero action figure; his desire for a new brother became so great that nice Raphael…that is, me…became real. So I guess I should thank you."

Raph's cheeks burned with rage. No way was this his fault! It had to be that pale imitation standing in front of him. He was to blame! He had to be some kind of monster that put his family under a spell. But not for long, not if he had anything to say about it!

"NO! You're behind all this!" He shouted as he attacked. "What did you do to them?! Let them go or I'll tear you apart!" But his punches and kicks had no effect; each sailed harmlessly through Raphie. Finally he gave up and doubled over in exhaustion trying to catch his breath.

Raphie shook his head. "You poor, poor, little idiot," he said. "You still don't get it. I didn't do any of this. Okay, I did the bricks and the skateboard, but only because I was getting impatient. I guess that's one personality trait we have in common."

"What are you talking about?!" Raph hissed in between gasps.

"Mikey was easy, but becoming real to the rest of the family was more of a challenge. I had to be as nice as you were rotten. Every time you were mean or difficult, I was there to be the nice and wonderful Raphael they always wanted. I was a better brother and son than you ever were, but for some reason a part of them still remembered you. So I tried to get rid of you myself…out of sight, out of mind, right? But it doesn't matter anymore, since it looks like your time is just about up."

"Oh yeah?" Raph snarled. He tired to grab Raphie but stopped cold; his hand and arm had become transparent. He frantically looked himself over, and to his horror he discovered his entire body was fading.

"I don't know what I was worried about," Raphie said. "Maybe if you had apologized or thought about someone besides yourself just once, things might have been different…anyway, I gotta get back home. It's almost time for dessert." He turned and walked away.

"NO!" I'm Raphael! I'm Raphael!" Raph screamed, but no sound came out of his mouth. _I'm Raphael…I'm Raphael…_

_Raphael…Raphael…Raphael…_

Raphael heard a voice calling his name that wasn't his own. He opened his eyes to see the worried faces of his family staring down at him. He tried to sit up but a sharp pain stabbed the top of his head, and he lay back groaning.

"Lay still, my son," Splinter said, holding an ice pack on Raph's head. "You suffered a quite a blow."

"Yeah, a couple of bricks fell off the wall in your bedroom and one of 'em konked you on the head," Don said. "You've been out cold for twenty minutes!"

"You had us really worried, bro," Leo said.

"Huh? Wha…Where's Raphie?" Raph asked, still dazed.

The family exchanged glances. "Wow, that brick really did a number on you," Don said. "You know Raphie's not real, don't you?"

"I'm sorry, Raph!" Mikey cried. "I'm sorry I ignored you and made up another brother! I don't want another brother! I want you, even if you are a pain in the shell sometimes."

"Same here," Raph grinned. "And Mikey…I'm sorry I broke your Silver Sentry action figure. I'll fix it up good as new, I promise!"

"Actually, Donny already did, but I'll save that promise for the next time you break something of mine," Mike grinned back.

"All right my sons, Raphael needs to rest now. You may visit with him later," Splinter said. The three turtles each said goodbye to Raph and filed out of the room. Splinter then turned his attention back to his injured son. "How are you feeling now, Raphael?" He asked.

"My head still hurts a bit, but not as much as before," Raph replied. "Master Splinter? I'm sorry I was such a jerk. From now on I'll be the perfect son."

Splinter smiled. "I do not expect you to be perfect, my son. You can be stubborn and rash at times, but you have a good heart and your family will always love you no matter what."

Splinter's words washed over Raph with the comfort of a warm blanket. Still, he silently vowed to turn over a new leaf. Never again would he take his family for granted; from now on he was going to be kind and thoughtful and never lose his temper again. And he kept that vow…for about a week. But that is another story altogether.

THE END


End file.
